Prattville extends storage facility permit moratorium during zoning review

Prattville kept new mini-warehouse and self-storage projects on hold May 21, extending a permit moratorium while city leaders continue rewriting the rules that govern where those buildings can go.

The extension means no new permits, business licenses or other approvals can move forward for mini-warehouses and self-storage facilities until the city lifts or revises the pause. Officials said the zoning ordinance review was not finished because of unforeseen circumstances, and the city is still in the process of hiring a Planning and Development Director to help complete that work.

The moratorium dates back to June 17, 2025, when the Prattville City Council first adopted the temporary pause. In that earlier ordinance, the city said nearby communities had seen a proliferation of self-storage businesses and warned that overdevelopment of mini-warehouses and storage facilities could hurt Prattville’s development and limit the city’s ability to attract more diverse businesses.

That concern has become part of a broader land-use debate in a city that is still growing. The U.S. Census Bureau lists Prattville’s population at 37,781 in 2020 and estimates it at 40,139 in 2024, a jump that helps explain why officials are taking a closer look at what kinds of commercial uses belong along the city’s fastest-growing corridors and in its developing neighborhoods.

Mayor Bill Gillespie said the city wanted time to review zoning ordinances while protecting what makes Prattville distinctive. District 1 Councilman Russ Sanders said the pause responded to the spread of these developments across the region. At the June 2025 council meeting, Rev. Ell White II voiced support for the moratorium, arguing that Prattville already had more storage facilities than houses.

The city’s own zoning code already includes a use-specific section for mini-storage facilities, so the issue is not whether the use is legal, but whether the current framework still fits Prattville’s growth. The original ordinance also referenced the Alabama Self-Service Storage Act, underscoring that the city’s local rules sit within a broader state legal structure.

The next round of local input will run through Prattville’s Planning Commission, a volunteer citizens board that makes recommendations to the City Council on zoning and rezoning requests. As the review continues, that process will shape whether storage facilities remain restricted, where they might be allowed next, and how much land stays available for retail, restaurant or mixed-use development instead.